Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

"What's the strange way?"

"Sir, the Satya you are talking about, is she the waitress at the Banner Mare Inn, the Red Guard who disappeared a while ago?"

"That's her."

"That's it. Her boss, Hulda, asked someone to look for her for a while, but to no avail. I've seen that woman before, so what can I say about her? Although it's not nice to talk about people behind their backs, I heard that she wasn't a decent woman. She often went to brothels and bars, and she might have made friends with some questionable people. So Hulda thought that she either eloped with someone, or was abducted or killed."

I didn't expect Satya to have such a colorful life. In fact, in the game, this task is designed without a beginning or an end, and countless players are arguing about who is telling the truth. Satya claims that she was hunted down because she criticized Thalmor in public, but Hammerfell and Thalmor are enemies, so there is no reason to persecute her. Kematu accused her of being a Thalmor spy, and he was on this trip to capture her and bring her back for justice. But he was very secretive about his identity. If he was really an official, why would he hide his head and show his tail? There are many loopholes in the statements of both sides, and there are no follow-up tasks set in the game. As a result, there is naturally no recognized result after ten years of arguing.

Logically speaking, Satya should avoid contact with people from all walks of life as much as possible to avoid revealing her whereabouts. But according to Lai Mei, this woman did not keep a low profile, but instead showed off her beauty, which was indeed a bit abnormal.

"So you think she's too careless and doesn't seem like someone who hides from others?"

"Not only that, sir. The most important problem is that she is too young. From my observation, Satya is only in her twenties. Even if she has the secret to keep her youthful appearance, let's assume she is thirty. The Great War took place thirty years ago, and it has been twenty years since Hammerfell completely expelled the Thalmor. The time when this Tansi City was conquered must have been no later than 180 years of the Fourth Era. At that time, Satya was no more than ten years old. Do you believe me, sir, if I say that little girl Lucia can sell the Bloody Throne Fortress? Besides, the scale of Tansi City is far from comparable to that of a small castle."

hiss……

This angle of Lai Mei is quite tricky. I was actually inclined to agree with what Kematu said before, because in the game, this person is polite and insists on procedural justice, and clearly stated that Satia is safe before being tried. If the player kills Satia, he will also reprimand the player. But no matter how reasonable the words are, objective evidence is more powerful after all.

Age is a hurdle that cannot be avoided.

In the game, characters who participated in the World War, such as Horik, Ulfric, Tullius, and Rikke, all had traces of time on their faces. Only the Thalmor envoy Alanwen, relying on the longevity of the elves, maintained relatively smooth skin. This Satia, regardless of whether her face was as beautiful as Kematu said, at least judging from the condition of her skin, she was definitely not of the same generation as Ulfric.

How come I didn't notice this?

"Then why did these Red Guards go to so much trouble to capture her?"

Lydia shook her head.

"I can't guess. Anyway, Masinissa's words are definitely not convincing. These guys are sneaky and don't look like good people."

"Ah? Just now in the tent, I saw you nodding at me, and I thought you were hinting that I could accept their service?"

Lai Mei laughed.

"I hope you will keep them with you. It is definitely not a good thing for such a group of armed thugs of unknown origin to lurk in the territory. It is better for a wise man like you to come forward and monitor their actions at any time. We can slowly wait for them to reveal their true intentions and then decide how to deal with them. Besides, you also need manpower. The three men I saw today are all good at fighting. What if they are really good citizens?"

Good boy! This girl is really daring to plot!

"You've given me a problem. I can't trust these people, and I don't know what to do with them."

"There will always be a time when you can be useful. It would be good to bring you along as a guard when you are away from home. They are still counting on you to help find someone, so they should care about your safety and not be as useless as some people."

"you you you……"

Hayou, who was enjoying the melon with gusto, never expected that he would be covered in melon soup. His hair stood up and he looked fatter, but he couldn't find a strong word to refute. He kept talking for a long time but couldn't figure out what was going on, so he turned his head away and sulked. Lai Mei expressed extreme disdain and indignation for this shameless person who messed up the job and still felt wronged. Seeing that the two enemies were about to fight again, I quickly stepped out to smooth things over.

"I say, if you two continue to make trouble like this, I won't dare to arrange the next task."

Upon hearing the mission, Lydia immediately stopped smiling.

"The mission is divided into two parts. Not only do you two have to be responsible for your own half, but you also have to communicate and cooperate, and even help each other find deficiencies and make up for them. How can you accomplish anything if you keep attacking each other like you are doing now? If it just ruins the job, you can still find a way to remedy it, but you both have to lead subordinates. If a subordinate loses his life because of a conflict in charge, who among you can take the responsibility?"

This was the first time I spoke to them in such a stern tone. Lai Mei stood very straight and Ha You didn't dare to continue to act funny.

"Hayou, you take Lachlan and Aigis to sneak into Whiterun. Aigis will scout the situation near Loristed Town, including but not limited to the movement of garrisons and supplies. You and Lachlan will find a hidden place to camp near the Gukar Monument, be responsible for meeting Aigis and passing on the news. Lydia, you take Helata and Ariana and search along the south side of the Brightxin Mountains for canyons or caves that can pass through the entire mountain range. The more hidden the better. After finding the location, inform Hayou and receive the intelligence he has collected."

I thought about it again and decided to assign Jakir to Lai Mei as well.

Logically, the task that Danger gave me was just to keep in touch and promote cooperation between Dad and Moira to form a joint defense line. There was no intelligence requirement, but I was really scared by Tullius's elusive style of play. Last winter, the Imperial Legion enforced the law with armed forces and forced us to abandon the city and flee. The city of Falkreath was only recovered because Lucius, that idiot, missed the opportunity to fight. Even so, we were still seriously injured and have not yet completed the reconstruction work. This spring, Tullius did the same thing in the north and crushed the hard nail of Skade.

I don't want the same drama to happen again. If according to Danger's analysis, the Empire is determined to take Falkreath, then this time, the commander of the Legion must be an experienced person, and it is even possible that Tullius will lead the team himself. And he will definitely mobilize a large army to try to hit an egg with a stone. There are spies from the Imperial Legion lurking in the palace, and we can't be blind. Although Danger has his own sources of information, he will inevitably be misled by the opponent's undercover. I plan to use my limited manpower to add an insurance for the old fox.

From another perspective, although the battles I experienced in Skyrim were not large in scale and were inferior to the village fights in my previous life, they were after all hundreds of people fighting for their lives, and the chips in my hand, including the cat, were less than ten people, and their levels were uneven. I am afraid that this amount of troops would be useless on the front battlefield, so it is better to do some auxiliary work.

Although Eric and Helgi are close to me, they are not my subordinates, and I cannot rely on them for battle. Lund and Lucia have no fighting power and are also excluded. So there are only eight people left: Lydia, Stein, Hayou, Lachlan, Agis, Jakir, Herata and Ariana.

Lydia can definitely be considered a master. In the game, her strength can also be ranked in the upper middle level. But this girl just had a fracture not long ago, and I don’t know how much she has recovered. Hayou’s level is not bad, but this calico cat is suppressed by Laimei. I guess he is just in the lower middle level. Hayou once said that Jakir’s strength is above him, but I have never seen this cat fight, and I don’t know who is stronger between him and Laimei. These three are the strongest fighting force under my command. Stein is only one or two years younger than Laimei, but his strength is much worse. After all, in addition to the difference in talent, Lydia comes from a noble family and has been polished in the regular army of Whiterun for several years. She is far from being comparable to ordinary young people.

As for the others, Aigis's archery skills are actually better than mine, but the little cat girl's psychological quality is biased, and she often cannot perform at her best level. Hayou's eldest cousin Lahlan seems to be just a playboy with high expectations but poor skills. It's good that he doesn't cause trouble for me. According to Lei Mei's observation, Herata has a lot of strength, but his fighting skills are limited. Of course, this is also because he is a farmer who evaded military service and has never received systematic training. Ariana is skilled in swords and bows, and can be considered a good warrior. Unfortunately, she is a wild man, so it's no problem to deal with jackals, but she can't take advantage of Stein.

As their leader, Baron Loristed, Knight of the Bloodthrone, Horse Breeder of Falkreath, Hero of Morthal, Protector of the Reach Refugees, Friend of the Companions, Slayer of Wolves, Hunter of Movarth, and Holder of the Sworn Blade of Bolla, my strength is insignificant. Although I cannot intuitively understand my level from the data like in the game, I still have some self-knowledge.

Being able to summon an ice elemental means that I am at least an intermediate summoner. However, this magic is enough to drain all my mana, and as far as I know, the only way to increase the mana limit is meditation. Unfortunately, the benefits of meditation can only be accumulated over time. I started too late and missed the best age to learn. I also wasted at least ten years of time that could have been used for meditation. Even if I learn more advanced magic in the future, I don't know if I will have enough mana to cast it.

Although I remembered what Yilandur told me to concentrate on martial arts training, I always run around and my training is sporadic. But then again, Rocker's physical fitness is still quite good. Eric and Angie have both said that if I can calm down and polish my spear and archery skills, I still have a future. But as far as the current situation is concerned, if I use a spear, it won't be a problem to fight Stein alone. Of course, this is related to the restraint of the weapon. If the opponent is any one of the three masters of Lai Mei, I can only summon an ice element first and then quickly escape. If I meet Eric and his wife, I may not be able to escape...

It's funny. In my previous life, when I read martial arts novels, played games, or listened to storytelling, the higher the status, the stronger the strength. There were old masters with unfathomable internal strength, but I have limited ability. Even if some people say that I have a quick mind and many ideas, it is actually due to my identity as a time traveler. I was traveled through by the game drama, and I went to school. I may have less experience than the nobles, but my ability of logical thinking is not necessarily worse.

However, my advantage seemed insignificant before the upcoming war. It was a face-to-face fight, not a chess game on a computer. There was no chance to reload the game, and there was no room for cheats or consoles.

I can only make solid preparations. Although I have nothing to do with the frontal battlefield, I can't just sit there and put all my hopes on others.

Do your best and leave the rest to fate.

This time, I sent all eight of my subordinates out, hoping to get some useful intelligence that will help with the battle.

After listening to my arrangements, Lydia frowned slightly.

"Isn't it too risky to leave Stein alone with you, sir?"

"Don't keep Stein either. You can hand over the affairs in the south to him."

"That won't do! Your Excellency..."

I waved my hand.

"My safety is not a problem. Eric from the Companions will come to Helgen. At most I will bother him for a few days. Once you are all in your positions, I may also come to your place. Anyway, there is nothing to do hiding in the castle."

"But, are you so sure, sir, that there are unknown paths through the Bretsin Mountains?"

Of course I am sure. In the game, there is a cave connecting the north and the south, and there is a necromancer hiding inside. However, this other world is much larger than the game, and I am not sure whether the necromancer is alone, so I decided to let Lei Mei bring Jakir with her. If I still can't deal with that guy even if I bet two-thirds of my strength, then I will hit a wall and can only consider myself unlucky.

"If we are not mistaken, there are smuggling channels in the Jerol Mountains. I think there will be some in the Bretsing Mountains as well. But you must be careful when searching. I emphasize again that your safety is more important than the mission. The mission can fail, but people must not get into trouble! In addition, if you find that the Imperial Army is dispatched in large numbers, the mission will be terminated immediately and you must return to the team as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

Lydia agreed with a serious look. Hayou opened his mouth and squeezed out a "yes".

"Are you worried about Aigis' safety?"

Ha You was stunned for a while, but finally smiled bitterly.

"If Aigis wants to, I won't stop him even if I'm worried. Children have to grow up."

After arranging the tasks, we hurried on our way. When we returned to the Blood Throne, it was already dark. Lund and Lucia were checking the accounts in the room. When he saw me coming back, he stood up quickly, but there was no smile on his face.

"Locke, I'm sorry, I messed up again..."